Well I have some bad news for the puffer lovers on here. While i was gone, flint became ill and died before my boyfriend could try and save her. I was so sad when i found out and actually cried because i was so attached to my puffer :( . Its been 2 weeks but I decided to post the details so maybe others can learn from this. A day after eating some freeze dried shrimp and half a worm, Flint was not as active and her color became dark green. Her belly was still white but she was acting stressed so Jake did a water change. It seemed to help until the next day. Flint was having trouble swimming and would just stay on the bottom of the tank most of the day. She always was out exploring and picking on the fiddler crabs before this happened. When she would swim, it was in a jerky motion and and twice she was so off balance, Flint landed belly up in the sand. Jake helped move her right side up both times. After searching online, he figured out it was probably her swim bladder but Flint was gone before Jake could burp her and try to get the air bubble out. My poor puffer must have been in so much pain and i still feel so bad I wasn't there to help. We have not replaced Flint and I don't know if i want to just yet. The mistake I made was not leaving notes on her care even though jake had watched me feed her before. He didn't soak the shrimp before feeding them and this step could have made all the difference.

Well I have some bad news for the puffer lovers on here. While i was gone, flint became ill and died before my boyfriend could try and save her. I was so sad when i found out and actually cried because i was so attached to my puffer :( . Its been 2 weeks but I decided to post the details so maybe others can learn from this. A day after eating some freeze dried shrimp and half a worm, Flint was not as active and her color became dark green. Her belly was still white but she was acting stressed so Jake did a water change. It seemed to help until the next day. Flint was having trouble swimming and would just stay on the bottom of the tank most of the day. She always was out exploring and picking on the fiddler crabs before this happened. When she would swim, it was in a jerky motion and and twice she was so off balance, Flint landed belly up in the sand. Jake helped move her right side up both times. After searching online, he figured out it was probably her swim bladder but Flint was gone before Jake could burp her and try to get the air bubble out. My poor puffer must have been in so much pain and i still feel so bad I wasn't there to help. We have not replaced Flint and I don't know if i want to just yet. The mistake I made was not leaving notes on her care even though jake had watched me feed her before. He didn't soak the shrimp before feeding them and this step could have made all the difference.

I'm sorry you lost Flint I'm not sure about whether the food could have been the cause, but feeding dried food isn't the best for puffers. If you get another, make sure you feed live snails, and you can buy raw shrimp, clams etc. If your pet store sells silversides, that is a good food too.
Other foods are the frozen packets, of mussels that are labeled for SW puffers. Mine didn't love those as much as some others, but variety is key.

__________________Just because animals can't talk, does not mean they should not be heard